Spin-torque magnetic memory devices store information by controlling the resistance across a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) such that a read current through the magnetic tunnel junction results in a voltage drop having a magnitude that is based on the state of the magnetoresistive stack. The resistance in each magnetic tunnel junction can be varied based on the relative magnetic states of the magnetoresistive layers within the magnetoresistive stack. In such memory devices, there is typically a portion of magnetoresistive stack that has a fixed magnetic state and another portion that has a free magnetic state that is controlled to be either of two possible states relative to the portion having the fixed magnetic state. Because the resistance through the magnetic tunnel junction changes based on the orientation of the free portion relative to the fixed portion, information can be stored by setting the orientation of the free portion. The information is later retrieved by sensing the orientation of the free portion. Such magnetic memory devices are well known in the art.
Some magnetoresistive memory devices such as magnetic random access memory (MRAM) support access protocols that are also used by other memory devices. For example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) devices that use the synchronous double data rate protocol (e.g. DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, DDR4 SDRAM, etc.) are well known in the art. Some MRAM devices support such protocols, where the same operation codes for DDR SDRAM devices result in the same or similar operations in MRAM devices.